What is life?
Individual life is an experience of humanity. Yet humans rarely have time to appreciate or enjoy it. When humans think of experience, they think of possessions. These signify nothing beyond a point. They also seek carnal pleasures, which are the superficial sensations.
In Chapter 1, we discussed the human mind and its intricacies. Perception of life is through the mind. Life is a perception of the mind. Without a perceptive mind, life is an affair for others to observe. It ceases to be an experience.
But life moves on for all in a cycle.
The Human Life Cycle
Life is always in crisis. Childhood is a crisis of immunity. Adolescence is a war with hormones and social taboos.
Adult life is a struggle with emotions if rich. It is also a struggle with finances if constrained. Society enables all these adversities. Rarely is anyone, other than parents, truly helpful. Yet parents look like enemies and friends appear well wishers.
Old age is a memory full of regrets and failed aspirations. Overall, life is a journey of crisis with brief splashes of stability and relief.
By adulthood, life becomes a game to trap numbers in one’s favor. It soon becomes a habit that is impossible to drop. Numbers could be social connections. They could be bank balances, or followers on social media. Likes, dislikes, and followers are a new addiction. This is especially true when they translate into credits in a Bank. These credits then translate into consumption and possessions.
In this crisis, humans wonder why they are not happy. The hilarious part is our reaction. This realization of unhappiness makes humans double down on the same lifestyle of crisis. The biggest hurdle in living is not the crisis. It is the expectation of stability. Worse is the expectation of favorable outcomes or results of actions.
Strategy versus Tactics in Life Management
We attempt to navigate this cycle using strategic and tactical decisions1.
Strategic decisions chart the course of our lives. These are choices like pursuing higher education, buying a home, or starting a family. They require careful thought because they shape our long-term future.
Tactical decisions are immediate steps. They support our strategic goals. These include budgeting for groceries, paying utility bills, buying a TV or choosing a commute.
Under financial and/or social pressure, the balance breaks down. We focus entirely on tactical choices to survive the present. We cover rent or repair cars. We neglect strategic planning like saving for retirement. We sacrifice long term relationships for the ‘love’. The corridors of Family Courts are full of live examples of such misplaced priorities. It is not a pleasant sight to watch, and here is a confession. This is the reason for me to avoid practicing family law.
In short the problem is not to focus long term. The focus on short-term fixes traps us in a reactive cycle. People plan businesses, projects, technologies, and finances meticulously. Yet no one gets life right.
Somehow, humans end up disappointed more often than not. No amount of planning turns out as expected. The strategic plan fails because life is not a business project.
The Perfect Lie
The reason for failure is that life is a perfect lie. It is a lie so perfect and convincing that we cannot overcome it to see it in its entirety. We see bits and pieces in a convincing way. We believe in our perception of truth and reality.
We compliment each other in a so-called social contract and keep the myth alive. When the contract breaks down, others say it was an exception. The fewer exceptions we notice, the more we believe in them. The programming works for most. They obediently follow the pattern until the mind starts playing.
This is relationship in action riding on individual thoughts fueled by ambition and desire.2 It is like a merry-go-round. It is pleasant and risky at the same time.
The Mind
In Chapter 1, we discussed how the mind is a player in its own right. It accumulates, sorts, creates, and projects the same old data with new scenery. It behaves like artificial intelligence. But we call it real intelligence. Real intelligence works in real-time observation, and that is not happening. The world in which an individual exists is not outside his body, but inside the mind.
The tool that is the mind, which should be discerning the truth, becomes the ultimate deception. Life goes on inside. The circle of life continues unabated. It terminates with or without a bang.
This mismatch of existence is the sleepwalking we often experience in people. This explains why they are not there where their body is. Waking up from this sleep is a business worth billions of dollars. There are Gurus of all kinds telling people how to wake up.
Philosophers tell us that one can wake up in a moment. They are right. But that one moment may take a lifetime to arrive. Waking up happens and sleep also happens in quick succession. One is awake one moment and falls back to sleep the next moment.
Once awake, the difficulty arises in enjoying the merry-go-round. Now, one cannot enjoy that ride. The merry-go-round goes on as always. There is no stopping it. People who try to step away face a surprise. A new merry-go-round grows under their feet without their noticing.
It is a new ride. It is a new cycle.
Soon, the mind will play old games. Social characters will gather and convince us of reality. They always did.
But this time, the merry-go-round seems better. I am not looking at others’ rides. I do not want to speed it up. I do not care if it slows down. I love the illusion of the world rotating around me. I like being the center of it. But I am not trying to grow up and swallow the world. I am back to being a little kid. I am enjoying the ride I cannot control and will not control.
Convinced or not, the show goes on. This is life.
The grand circle of life.
In the next chapter we shall discuss Relationships.
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